Many are calling Grand Central Station a "game-changer" for the bus and train systems on the island of Ireland, particularly in Northern Ireland.

The new location is five minutes' walk from city hall on Grosvenor Road. A cross-border bus to Dublin will depart first thing on Sunday morning.

There is enough for both buses and trains in the new concourse. However, it would take some time until the infrastructure is available for use by cross-border train services.

This is due to the fact that testing on the newly constructed track and signals as part of the project is still pending.

In due course, the launch date of train services from the station will be disclosed. The estimated cost was £300 million in the initial business case.

The project is completed on schedule. The extra £40 million spent has been attributed to inflationary pressures brought on by the conflict in Ukraine and the fact that construction started during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The contractor had stated that, because of the situation in Ukraine, it was unsure if it would be able to obtain the steel required for the construction.

Northern Irish enterprises accounted for seventy percent of the project's workforce.

The glass was made by a manufacturer in County Tipperary, and the glazing was completed by a Dublin-based company.

The largest integrated public transportation hub on the island will be Grand Central Station.


But there's a disagreement about the new station's signage.

Advocates of the Irish language have pleaded with Translink to take into account multilingual signs all throughout the structure.

Both Belfast City Council and Sinn Féin's Minister of Infrastructure, John O'Dowd, were in favour of them.

However, it seems that Irish will only be available at a central welcome desk, along with other languages, for the time being. Translink claims to be holding more consultations on the matter.

Translink CEO Chris Conway refers to the new station as a "world class facility".

"This will completely transform Northern Ireland's public transit system.

"It will improve connection throughout all of Northern Ireland. As the heart of our network, we can now expand services, linking towns and cities throughout the region.

"We can also grow connectivity across the island of Ireland as well with new hourly rail service coming in between Belfast and Dublin."

Later this year, the two cities will have a new hourly rail service. The Irish Government is contributing €25 million to its assistance.